. . .
Alex sat at the table, looking at Emily. She came in the room and joined him and Richard about a half-hour ago. Sitting sideways on the couch, she pulled the curtains aside with one hand so she could glance outside. She seemed unalarmed, but took a peek every few minutes. “Anybody out there with a drawn gun?” asked Alex.
“Not yet,” said Emily.
Not yet, thought Alex. That was to be his future, he supposed. “Well, where the hell is Doug? I have to do something about the hospital this morning. Time is running out. Where did he go?”
Emily looked him in the eye. “Are you okay?”
Alex sighed. “I didn’t sleep that well last night.”
Richard sat on the chair, looking at the notes he wrote the night before. “I saw Doug leave some time ago, but he didn’t say anything.”
“Whatever he’s doing,” said Emily, “it needs to be done and he’ll let us know when we need to know.” She glanced back out the window.
“Well, dammit, we know little enough about what’s going on. He could at least extend us the courtesy of - “
“He just drove up,” said Emily as she let the curtain drop against the wall.
Doug came in the door, carrying a tray of coffee cups and several bags containing bagels and cream cheese. Putting all on the table, he went to the bedside where he left a briefcase he brought in with him the night before. He produced a laptop from it and placed it on the table as well. Bending over the keyboard, he set about booting the computer.
“Where have you been?” asked Alex.
Doug glanced at him. “Eat up,” he said as he worked. “We have to get out of here soon. We can’t afford to stay in the same place for long.” Emily, Richard and Alex each grabbed coffee and a bagel and watched Doug work. He stopped typing at the keyboard and straightened up. “We’re about to go deep undercover. I know Emily knows what that means, and I’m sure she’s made whatever arrangements she needed to make. But I’m not sure you two know what this means.” He paused. “We need to hide in the shadows. We have to cut any and all ties to the outside world. Do either of you have anyone that might wonder about where you are, that might start asking questions?”
“Not me,” said Richard. “Except you three, I don’t think anyone even knows I’ve left the monastery. I have some family, a sister, out west, but we don’t talk much and she wouldn’t expect me to contact her. So if I don’t, she wouldn’t know the difference.”
“Let’s see,” said Alex. “There’s the hospital, which I really need to contact now, and no one else – except my friend that’s watching my dog and the people at the airport where I left the plane. I work a lot and the people in my life wouldn’t think anything of my disappearing and not communicating with them for a while.”
“Good.” Doug thought for a moment. “I know it means a lot to you, but your plane is not worth the risk. I'm sorry, but you need to forget about it. If we get through this, you can try to reclaim it. Until then, it’s just not that important.”
Alex swallowed. Hard.
“Your dog… The thing is, anyone you contact is going to be put at risk of being exposed to those people out there. And they don’t seem to think anything of taking a life simply for their own convenience. Do you really want to expose your friend to that?”
Alex swallowed again. Very hard. His chest was tight and his breath felt labored. “No,” he said finally.
“The hospital is a different story,” said Doug as he plugged a mobile phone into the computer via a USB cable. “Let me see your cell phone.” He plugged that into the computer as well. “I have a way for you to communicate with them. I can’t imagine they’ll be put at any risk by the contact.”
“Where’d you get a computer?” asked Richard.
“I’ve carried this with me since I left LQNH. That’s how I did research on you, Alex, and his plane.” Doug tapped on the keyboard, then turned it to face Alex. “Enter whatever text you want. But it’s going to be one way only. You cannot receive any reply.”
Alex thought for a moment, then entered a message. “Is this going to be safe?” he asked.
“More than that. It’s going to be a diversion. You remember Oscar, don’t you, Emily?”
“That big pizza and beer-guzzling geek? Of course.”
“Oscar Lubowski’s a technological genius,” Doug said to Richard and Alex. “He set up this software that reprograms cell phones. It takes your cell phone ID and puts it in this other phone. At a preset time, this second phone changes its ID to yours so the system thinks it’s talking to your phone. At the same time, it’ll text a message to whatever cell phone you direct it to, and e-mails the message as well. I just need the phone number and the e-mail address.”
“That should do it,” said Alex as he turned the keyboard back toward Doug. The message was terse and simple – Unable to return to work for indefinite period of time. Will inform you when I will be available to work again. “I am now totally disencumbered. No job, no career, no income. No income, so foreclosure on my bullet riddled house and repossession of my beautiful plane. Even my dog is gone. I do wish I could check on the dog, though.” He sighed deeply as he wrote down the information Doug asked for and gave it to him. Alex’s stomach ached like someone had kicked him.
“It’s just too dangerous. We can message out, but receiving messages provides a path someone could use to find us.” Doug perused Alex’s message, entered some more data and disconnected the phones. “Good. Your message is safe and to the point. Nothing in there to lead anyone back to us.” He gave Alex’s phone back to him and put the other one in his pocket. “Do not, under any circumstances, turn that on. Hang onto it, though. If it falls into the wrong hands, the data stored in it, even if erased, could lead our pursuers to us. Now, let’s get our stuff together and go. We’ll stop at the bus station and put this on a south-bound bus.” He patted the pocket holding the phone. “All we need to do is put it in a package addressed to somewhere south and ship it. Those people out there will track the phone in the wrong direction while we head north.”
“Do you think they’ll fall for that?” asked Alex.
“Doesn’t matter. They can’t ignore it. They have to spend some resources checking it out which will, at least for a short while, take some of the pressure off us.”
“North?” asked Emily. “How far north?”
“Boston.”
“Why there? That’s the place where all our trouble began,” said Alex.
“It’s time we changed from being the hunted, to the hunters; from being sheep, to wolves,” said Doug. “That’s where the lab is, in Cambridge; that’s where the answers are. I think it’s also where we need to be to stop whatever it is that’s going on. And I think it likely they’ll think that’s the last place we’d go and won’t be looking for us there.”
“So where are we going to stay in Boston?” asked Emily. “Where can we hide out?”
“Oscar has a safe house in Somerville, not too far from Cambridge.”
“Oscar?” said Emily.
“Does this Oscar work for the FBI?” asked Alex.
Emily chuckled.
“Oscar is a computer-hacking antiestablishment anarchist,” said Doug. “He certainly does not work for the FBI, or any other government agency.”
“Why should we trust him?”
“Emily and I met him when we were on an antiterrorist case. We stumbled onto him and threatened to end his career if he didn’t tone down what he was doing and help us out. We framed what we needed in terms that sounded like we were fighting the established order, I guess we were, and he found our terms acceptable. He still works in the shadows and goes to great lengths to stay off the radar. He breaks a law or two here and there, but does it quietly. He doesn’t try to take down the system, or significantly impede it; he just tweaks noses now and then. Lets the bureaucratic bullies in the world know they aren’t the only force on the block. He’s not only harmless, he’s useful.”
; “I don’t think anybody but Doug and I know he exists,” said Emily.
“Which also has proven to be useful,” said Doug. “He has this house in Somerville he sometimes works out of. He’s made it as electronically impenetrable as is humanly possible. The NSA could learn a thing or two from him.”
“Okay, fine. But can we trust him?”
“He certainly isn’t connected with any authority. There’s no way he could be involved in what’s going on; the people that are, are highly connected to the establishment. And I know Oscar. He can be trusted. What do you think, Emily?”
Emily paused for only a moment. “Yeah, he can be trusted. Helping us with this is exactly the kind of thing he lusts for. It’s right down his alley.”
“He’s independently wealthy, old money, and answers to nobody. He’ll be a great asset.”
“So what are we going to do when we get to Somerville?” asked Emily.
“That’s so close to where I left my dog,” said Alex. “Maybe I could surreptitiously sneak over to Georgetown and check on him.”
“Don’t even consider it,” said Doug. “It would be way too easy for them to catch you. They’re going to be watching closely around anyone you’ve ever known in the hopes you might show up. The best thing for you to do is to get to Oscar’s house and stay there.”
Alex sighed. “I suppose…” After a moment of thought, he added, “I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday, what one can find out on the internet if one knows where to look. Does Oscar have a computer we can safely use?”
“Several, and a firewall that would resist the digital equivalent of a nuclear holocaust.”
“If I can get into the lab’s server and sniff around, I’m sure I can understand what research they’re doing. Then maybe we can figure out what the vial is all about. By studying their published research, and the research of the lab in India, we should be able to get some insight into not only what the vial is, but what it’s for.”
“Who’s the head honcho of the lab in Cambridge?” asked Richard.
“A guy by the name of Griffin Todd. Quite an accomplished scientist by reputation.”
“Maybe I can be of some help without jeopardizing my principles,” said Richard.
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’d like to know more about Todd, the man. If I can find out more about him, I might be able to get inside his head. Our backgrounds ought to be similar, so I should be able to understand how he thinks. It’s just possible I could figure out what he’s capable of and what he might be into, in a general way. Since he’s in charge, he would be driving, or at least directing, what’s going on. I wish I could get a notebook or a journal…”
“Hmmm. The internet will have some information, but there might be a way we can get something more personal,” said Doug. “Maybe we should think about going into the lion’s den and see what we can get. Todd’s office, his lab, and his home.”
“I agree,” said Emily. “I think you and I should scout out Todd’s digs while Alex and Richard do some internet homework. Maybe we can find a safe way inside – do a little B & E.” She looked at Richard. “Are you going to be okay with that, Richard? You’re going to be part of something illegal.”
Richard was silent for a moment as the others waited for a response. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m willing to do and what I’m not. Mostly, I find myself surrounded by a lot of gray. But in this case, I’m okay. I’m helping us all increase our chances of survival. Although we’d be invading Todd’s privacy, I think it would be doing him more good than evil as well. We don’t mean to cause him any injury, just prevent him from doing great harm, even if it is against his will. That helps him as well. I’m okay with it.”
“Well,” said Doug, “it’s pretty dangerous. But the rewards might be worth the risk.” He took a long sip of coffee.
“So,” said Alex, “we’re headed to Somerville. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twelve
Alex glanced up from his computer and looked at Richard. He seemed restless, not really paying attention to the screen he'd been staring at all morning. “You okay?” he asked.
Richard stretched and moved over next to Alex, looking over his shoulder at the website Alex was scanning. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting cabin fever. We’ve been cooped up in here for too long.”
“Maybe so, but we’re not getting shot at. It’s only been a couple of days.”
Oscar’s house was on a small side street behind the Tufts University campus. It had a basement and two upper floors and was squeezed in tight among very similar houses. The computers were set up in the basement where they were well-sheltered.
Oscar turned out to be a godsend, not only outfitting them with the latest in computer and surveillance equipment and technical advice, but he was also acting as a delivery boy, running whatever errands they needed. He was genuinely excited, to the point of raising his eyebrows and rubbing his hands together, when he learned what they were doing. It was like he was a little boy who had been given a golden opportunity to play with his new toys in a project he could gleefully sink his teeth into. Much of what he did, the others couldn’t begin to fathom. He tried to explain it, but soon learned it was easier to just grin and demonstrate. Richard and Alex were more than happy being shown how to get on the internet incognito without knowing the details. But when Oscar cautioned them not to check their e-mail or websites that might allow others to try to trace them, they wanted to know why. “Never underestimate the government,” he told them simply. “Don’t unnecessarily tempt them. They have resources.”
Oscar was watching what Alex brought up on his screen. “So what are you guys trying to find?”
“Actually, we don’t really know,” said Alex.
“So how will you know when you find it?” Oscar leaned his bulk in close, looking over Alex’s shoulder. His long hair brushed up against Alex’s cheek. Alex was on a Harvard University website, looking up research being done in the open at the Cambridge lab.
“Intuition,” said Alex. “And a little luck.” Alex sat upright and turned to look at Oscar. “So, why’re you helping us?”
Oscar stood and crossed his arms. “Ever since high school, I’ve been into counter culture, hacking, underground stuff. I don’t trust the establishment and I love to find clever ways to poke a stick at them and let them know they’re not in complete control of everything. Hell, they control too much.”
“So how do you know Doug and Emily?”
“Well… I first met them when they caught me hacking into what was supposed to be a very secure computer system. I thought I was getting into a government conspiracy and I was busted for sure. But the system belonged to a terrorist group and Doug and Emily coerced me to help them. It was a gas.” He shrugged. “I might have gone legit, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be part of The System, you know? In the end, they made me promise to follow the straight and narrow.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve been… uh… lying low ever since.”
“So, you still haven’t answered the question. Why are you helping a cop and an FBI agent?”
Oscar started a little. “You guys are working for the government? I thought this was some investigation into government malfeasance.”
“It is, for sure. And no, we definitely are not working for the government.”
“Well, I’m all for helping with messing with the government. They’ve screwed up too much already.”
“How true. How true.”
Emily walked down the creaking stairs. She stopped on the bottom stair, looking at a spot on the carpet and pointing. “What’s that?”
“Hi, Emily,” said Alex. He shifted his gaze over to the direction Emily indicated. The spot moved. “Looks like a spider.”
“God, I hate spiders,” she said. “Can you kill it for me?”
Richard got up before Alex could move. “Let me.” He grabbed a piece of paper and put it in front of the spider who dutifully
climbed aboard. Carefully turning the paper so the spider remained on it as it crawled around, he maneuvered around Emily and climbed the stairs. “There’s no reason to kill you, is there,” he said to the spider. “We’ll just put you outside where you belong.”
When Richard returned to the basement, Emily looked up at him. “Why are you so concerned about a spider?” she asked.
“Well, there are two answers to that question. One is, I took an oath to do no harm to any other sentient being.”
“It’s just a spider.”
“There’s a lot that goes into a complete answer to that question,” said Richard as he walked over and sat back in front of his computer. “But maybe the shortest answer is the more you care about and care for everything in your life, the more you fill your life with loving compassion. Even the smallest part of your life’s experience, even a small spider, is still a part of your life. To the extent you don’t love any part of your life, to that same extent you don’t love yourself and your life’s journey.”
“What’s the second part?” asked Alex. He leaned back in his chair.
“Killing is an aggressive, hostile act – even when directed toward a spider. To choose to participate in such action necessarily adds to the negativity of your experience of life which takes away from the joy of life. Even beyond that, it leaves behind an unresolved scar that you will have to deal with sooner or later. You may be able to put the spider behind you, but the fact you had to react in a violent way to something that happened to you, reflects and reinforces a deeper issue that remains unresolved.”
“It’s just a spider,” said Alex. But he knew Richard was speaking from personal experience.
“Still, killing it won’t keep spiders from appearing in your life and it isn’t necessary to kill to remove the spider from your presence.”
“I suppose… It’s an interesting point of view, anyway,” said Emily. She gave him a sidelong look. “It does make me wonder just how much we can rely on you, though.”
Richard sighed. “I understand. I can tell you I believe in what we’re doing. However, I will not engage in or support any violence under any circumstances.”
The Devil's Vial Page 12